The Holocaust Background

The Holocaust Background

• The Holocaust was a part of World War II that involved the mass murder of nearly 6 million Jews and others, including Gypsies, Slavs, disabled people, and gay people.
• Hitler and the Nazis hated Jews, blaming them for Germany's defeat in World War I and its collapse in the 1920s.
• Hitler wrote a book called "My Struggle," in which he discussed wiping out Jews and believed Aryans were the most worthy human beings.

Rise to Power

• When Hitler came to power, Jews who worked in government lost their jobs, followed by other professionals like doctors and lawyers.
• Jewish businesses were closed, and Jews were isolated from society, given separate seats on buses and park benches, and bullied in schools.

Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht

• In 1935, the Nuremberg laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship.
• On the night of November 9, 1938, Jewish homes and shops were violently attacked in the so-called "Kristallnacht" or "Night of the Broken Glass."

The War

• In 1939, Germany invaded and took control of West Poland, and Polish Jews were driven from their homes and forced to live in separate areas called "ghettoes."
• Between 1939 and 1941, the Nazis killed over 70,000 mentally and physically disabled people, considering them an unfit burden on society.

The Camps

• In 1941, nearly 1 million Jews from all over Europe were killed by the Nazis.
• In 1942, Hitler organized the construction of camps, such as Auschwitz, where Jews and others were forced into slave labor, starved to death, or murdered.
• At Auschwitz alone, over 2 million people were killed by the Nazis.

Reactions and Responses

• Some people, like Oskar Schindler, risked their lives to save Jews, while others, like Anne Frank, hid from the Nazis and kept a diary.
• Some Jews fled to other countries, while others were sent to foster care in countries like Britain.

Death Marches

• As Soviet troops approached, the Nazis ordered the evacuation of the camps in 1944, resulting in the death of between 250,000 and 375,000 people during the marches.

Aftermath

• Survivors were unable to return home, having lost their families, and many were homeless for some time.
• The Nuremberg trials of 1945-1946 brought surviving Nazi leaders to justice, sentencing many to death.
• The state of Israel was created in 1948, partly to provide a permanent home for Holocaust survivors.